A new website is something that I have been contemplating for awhile now. It has been a little work, and things aren't quite perfect yet, but here it is. There are a lot of new features that we weren't able to do before. Part of our lack of posting has been the blossoming of social networking. We frequently post updates on Sam on Facebook, but often forget to do so here.
With the new site and the addition of "Sammy's Page" on Facebook, we should now be able to do both. In fact, you will notice that on the left side of the page you can see the feed from Sam's page on Facebook.
Something else new that has been in the works is a new fundraiser for Sam as we are still traveling to Boston every 8 weeks. The "Selling for Sam" store link will take you to a newly created Etsy store that will soon be full of handmade items for sale to help cover Sam's travel and medical expenses. Over the next few days I hope to get all of the items for sale (pictures on the Facebook page) moved into the store. I will also be providing information in the next few days for how you can donate items to sell.
If you were receiving email updates from Sam's old site and would like to continue to receive them, you will need to sign up again on the right side of the page.
That's all for tonight. I am hoping to do our first official "Sam post" tomorrow on his first day of school.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Taking the bad with the good
Most days I am not really sure where the last three years went. It just doesn't seem possible that it has been three years since I stood in the NICU, being told that Sam was gravely ill and that if we hadn't have gotten him there when we did he probably wouldn't have survived the next few hours.
It is impossible to believe the days that went by as we watched Sam struggle to survive. It would still be many weeks before we would have any answers.
The past three years have, without a doubt, been the worst three years of my life. They have also been the best three years of my life. With all of the heartache that Sam's has brought to our family, he has also brought great joy. I go to sleep every night knowing that every struggle that we have gone through in the last three years has been worth the mornings that I walk into Sam's room and he looks at me with a big smile and says "morning!".
Sam had a great party to celebrate his third birthday. It was great to see everyone that could make it to celebrate his big day. Turning three for Sam also meant that he transitioned from the Birth to 3 program to the school districts Early Learning program. Sam will be attending school three days a week int he afternoons. Last week Thursday he got to spend his first day at school and we are told he did well. Today was to be his first day riding the bus to school, unfortunately Sam had other plans.
Sam woke up this morning with a 102° F fever. Because of Sam's central line, any fever needs to be treated as a potential line infection. We have been inpatient in Appleton since this morning and today has been one hell of an adventure.
Sam didn't show any signs of anything being wrong, which is typical of Sam even when he is very sick. The type of antibiotic that we need to use for Sam until we get results from his cultures can have a side effect called Red Man's Syndrome. Sam has been on this antibiotic many times in his live and has never had a reaction. Until today.
Sam has had a pretty miserable day since we got about 1/2 hour into his first dose of Vancomycin. We can help lessen the side effects by giving him Benadryl and by slowing down the rate of his infusion, but neither of those things have helped very much. The third dose starts in a few hours and I am hoping we avoid another reaction because the episodes are downright miserable.
I will update more tomorrow once we get some test results back, for tonight I am hoping for a mostly restful night of sleep on my ultra comfortable hospital cot. (Who in the hell designs these things?)
It is impossible to believe the days that went by as we watched Sam struggle to survive. It would still be many weeks before we would have any answers.
The past three years have, without a doubt, been the worst three years of my life. They have also been the best three years of my life. With all of the heartache that Sam's has brought to our family, he has also brought great joy. I go to sleep every night knowing that every struggle that we have gone through in the last three years has been worth the mornings that I walk into Sam's room and he looks at me with a big smile and says "morning!".
Sam had a great party to celebrate his third birthday. It was great to see everyone that could make it to celebrate his big day. Turning three for Sam also meant that he transitioned from the Birth to 3 program to the school districts Early Learning program. Sam will be attending school three days a week int he afternoons. Last week Thursday he got to spend his first day at school and we are told he did well. Today was to be his first day riding the bus to school, unfortunately Sam had other plans.
Sam woke up this morning with a 102° F fever. Because of Sam's central line, any fever needs to be treated as a potential line infection. We have been inpatient in Appleton since this morning and today has been one hell of an adventure.
Sam didn't show any signs of anything being wrong, which is typical of Sam even when he is very sick. The type of antibiotic that we need to use for Sam until we get results from his cultures can have a side effect called Red Man's Syndrome. Sam has been on this antibiotic many times in his live and has never had a reaction. Until today.
Sam has had a pretty miserable day since we got about 1/2 hour into his first dose of Vancomycin. We can help lessen the side effects by giving him Benadryl and by slowing down the rate of his infusion, but neither of those things have helped very much. The third dose starts in a few hours and I am hoping we avoid another reaction because the episodes are downright miserable.
I will update more tomorrow once we get some test results back, for tonight I am hoping for a mostly restful night of sleep on my ultra comfortable hospital cot. (Who in the hell designs these things?)
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